Orientador: Alba Regina Monteiro Souza Brito / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Biologia / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-18T00:28:36Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Socca_EduardoAugustoRabelo_M.pdf: 1268769 bytes, checksum: eee2c6686e3a3fb123101e6954836a0f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010 / Resumo: Retocolite ulcerativa idiopática e doença de Crohn são doenças inflamatórias intestinais caracterizadas por inflamação crônica da mucosa, resultando em diarréia, fezes sanguinolentas, dores abdominais, anemia, febre, fadiga e perda de peso, tanto em homens quanto em mulheres. Acredita-se que essas manifestações sejam resultado de uma interação multifatorial envolvendo indivíduos geneticamente susceptíveis, condições ambientais específicas, desbalanço na microflora intestinal e desajuste da resposta imune. Drogas derivadas do acido 5-aminossalicilico (sulfassalazina, mesalamina), corticosteroides e agentes imunomoduladores são utilizadas, em conjunto no tratamento dessas patologias. No entanto tais drogas apresentam efeitos adversos importantes, o que acaba por motivar pesquisas envolvendo produtos naturais como alternativas de tratamento. Neste contexto, este trabalho avaliou os efeitos de antocianinas presentes nos frutos de Sambucus nigra L. (sabugueiro), espécie arbustiva pertencente a família Adoxaceae, em modelo de colite ulcerativa induzida pelo acido 2,4,6-trinitrobenzeno sulfônico (TNBS). Os frutos do sabugueiro apresentam grandes concentrações de metabolitos secundários como antocianinas, alem de outros compostos fenólicos, que acabam por conferir aos frutos propriedades antioxidantes, anti-inflamatorias, imunomoduladoras e laxativas. Neste trabalho, foram avaliadas as propriedades antioxidantes e anti-inflamatorias da fração de antocianinas monoméricas presentes nos frutos de S. nigra. Os resultados comprovaram o efeito antioxidante in vitro das antocianinas, sendo elas eficazes em reduzir tanto o radical 2,2-difenil-1-picrilhidrazil (DPPH), teste que avalia a redução do radical via transferência de elétrons, quanto a taxa de oxidação do radical 2,2 azobis amidinopropano (AAPH), teste que verifica a oxidação do radical via transferência de átomos de hidrogênio. Nos ensaios in vivo concluiu-se que a dose de 5mg.Kg-1 de antocianinas apresentou a melhor resposta em reduzir a lesão causada pelo TNBS, sendo efetiva em manter os níveis de GSH (5,709 ± 0,931) comparado ao grupo TNBS (0,8525 ± 0,298) e ao grupo salina (6,610 ± 3,926). Essas antocianinas foram efetivas ainda em aumentar a atividade da SOD (8,487 ± 2,505), quando comparada com o grupo TNBS (3,884 ± 0,925) e ao grupo salina (12,240 ± 4,199), e reduzir a atividade da MPO (4,519 ± 2,016), quando comparada ao grupo TNBS (7,572 ± 2,572) e ao grupo salina (1,314 ± 0,319). Os resultados obtidos na avaliação da atividade das enzimas GPx (17,03 ± 3,951 no grupo tratado e 22,13 ± 11,510 no grupo TNBS) e GR (0,6524 ± 0,1180 no grupo tratado e 0,7249 ± 0,3968 no grupo TNBS), comparados ao grupo salina (84,22 ± 41,88) e (2,131 ± 0,9858) respectivamente, indicam que houve queda na ativação destas enzimas apos 24h de indução da colite, sendo que esta situação não foi revertida apos administração das antocianinas. Do mesmo modo não foram encontradas alterações nos níveis de LPO (5,756 ± 1,884 no grupo tratado e 5,113 ± 0,8254 no grupo TNBS) comparados ao grupo salina (4,688 ± 1,126) . Já os ensaios anti-inflamatórios revelaram atividade antiinflamatória promissora, visto que as antocianinas foram capazes de manter os níveis de IL-10 (466,7 ± 56,32) próximos aqueles obtidos no grupo não-colitico (492,4 ± 154,5), quando comparados ao grupo TNBS (264,8 ± 66,35), e de reduzir a produção de IL-12 (202,3 ± 53,33) quando comparados com os animais não tratados (319,3 ± 111,5) e ao grupo salina (149,8 ± 51,76). Neste estudo concluiu-se que as antocianinas presentes nos frutos de sabugueiro apresentam atividade antioxidante, alem de aumentar os níveis de IL-10, citocina essa que, provavelmente, participa na redução dos níveis de citocinas pro - inflamatórias como IL-12 e, consequentemente, a expressão de mediadores inflamatórios / Abstract: Ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease are inflammatory bowel disease characterized by chronic inflammation of the mucosa, resulting in diarrhea, bloody stools, abdominal pain, anemia, fever, fatigue and weight loss in both men and women. It is believed that these manifestations are the result of a multifactorial interaction involving genetically susceptible individuals, environmental conditions, imbalance in intestinal microflora and immune response imbalance. Drugs derived from 5-aminosalicylic acid (sulfasalazine, mesalamine), corticosteroids and immunomodulatory agents are used together to treat these diseases. However, such drugs have significant adverse effects, which ultimately motivate research involving natural products as alternative treatments. In this context, this study evaluated the effects of anthocyanins in the fruits of Sambucus nigra L. (Elderberry), shrub species belonging to the family Adoxaceae, in a model of ulcerative colitis induced by 2,4,6-trinitrobenzenes sulfonic acid (TNBS). The fruits of elderberry have large concentrations of secondary metabolites such as anthocyanins and other phenolic compounds, which ultimately give the fruit antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory and laxative properties. In this study we investigated the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of the monomeric anthocyanins fraction in the fruits of S. nigra. The results confirmed the in vitro antioxidant effect of anthocyanins, which were effective in reducing both the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) test to evaluate the reduction of the radical via electron transfer and the rate of oxidation 2,2 azobis amidinopropane (AAPH), a test that checks radical oxidation via the transfer of hydrogen atoms. In vivo tests concluded that the dose of anthocyanins 5mg.Kg-1 had the best response to reduce the damage caused by TNBS, being effective in maintaining the levels of GSH (5.709 ± 0.931) compared to TNBS group (0, 8525 ± 0.298) and the saline group (6.610 ± 3.926). These anthocyanins were also effective in increasing the activity of SOD (8.487 ± 2.505) compared with the TNBS group (3.884 ± 0.925) and the saline group (12.240 ± 4.199), and reduce the activity of MPO (4.519 ± 2.016) when compared to TNBS group (7.572 ± 2.572) and the saline group (1.314 ± 0.319). The results obtained in the enzymatic activities of GPx (17.03 ± 3.951 in the treated group and 22.13 ± 11.510 in group TNBS) and GR (0.6524 ± 0.1180 in the treated group and 0.7249 ± 0.3968 TNBS group) compared to saline group (84.22 ± 41.88) and (2.131 ± 0.9858) respectively, indicate that there was a decrease in the activation of these enzymes after 24h of colitis induction. Likewise there were no changes in the levels of LPO (5.756 ± 1.884 in the treated group and 5.113 ± 0.8254 in group TNBS) compared to saline group (4.688 ± 1.126). The anti-inflammatory assays have shown promising antiinflammatory activity, whereas anthocyanins were able to maintain levels of IL-10 (466.7 ± 56.32) than those obtained in non-colitis group (492.4 ± 154 , 5), when compared to TNBS group (264.8 ± 66.35), and reduce the production of IL-12 (202.3 ± 53.33) compared with untreated animals (319.3 ± 111 , 5) and the saline group (149.8 ± 51.76). In this study it was concluded that anthocyanins present in elderberry fruits have antioxidant activity, and increased levels of IL-10, this cytokine, which probably participates in reducing levels of proinflammatory cytokines such as IL-12 and consequently the expression of inflammatory mediators / Mestrado / Fisiologia / Mestre em Biologia Funcional e Molecular

Background: The 5 subunits of native pentameric C-reactive protein (CRP) are dissociated to generate the monomeric form of CRP (mCRP) in some in vitro conditions, both physiological and non-physiological, and also in vivo. Many bioactivities of mCRP generated by urea-treatment of CRP and of mCRP generated by mutating the primary structure of CRP have been reported. The bioactivities of mCRP generated by spontaneous dissociation of CRP are largely unexplored. Methods: We purified mCRP generated by spontaneous dissociation of CRP and investigated the binding of mCRP to enzymatically-modified low-density lipoprotein (E-LDL). Results: mCRP was approximately 60 times more potent than CRP in binding to E-LDL. In the presence of the small-molecule compound phosphoethanolamine (PEt), at 37 °C, the binding of mCRP to E-LDL was enhanced <2-fold, while the binding of CRP to E-LDL was enhanced >10-fold. In contrast, PEt inhibited the binding of both CRP and mCRP to pneumococcal C-polysaccharide, another phosphocholine-containing ligand to which CRP and mCRP were found to bind. We have not investigated yet whether PEt alters the structure of CRP at 37 °C. Conclusions: Combined data suggest that the targeting of CRP with the aim to monomerize CRP in vivo may be an effective approach to capture modified forms of LDL.

No description available.

Despite recent advances in stem cell biology, immunotherapy and transplantation, substantial barriers still exist in the large-scale specific separation of a discrete population of human therapeutic cells from a cell suspension. The ideal purification technique should combine high cell purity, yield and function, with fast processing and affordability. Currently, fluorescence-activated cell sorting with flow cytometry (FACS) and magnetic activated cell sorting (MACS®) are the most used methods for cell separation and purification and have been employed extensively in molecular biology, diagnostic and cell sorting applications, because they are considered to be gentle, fast and scalable. However, these methods have several key disadvantages; they are invariably expensive, yield low log cell reduction (LCR) rates, and suffer from drawbacks when applied to niche cell populations, such as those requiring multiple tandem separation steps and/or involving combined positive and negative cell selection steps. To address this challenge, a new cell affinity selection system was developed. The selectivity is based on the reversible monomeric avidin biotin interaction and it is primary designed for positive selection. The initial studies were performed on flat, nonporous, glass coverslips and the technology was then successfully transferred on high grade smooth non-porous glass beads (with a diameter of 79.12 to 118.59 μm). The multi-step layer-by-layer deposition procedure culminating in dextran-coated supports bearing monomeric avidin was rigorously characterized and subsequently employed in packed bed chromatography experiments with human erythrocytes isolated from cord blood and B lymphocytes from cell lines. The developed affinity selection platform was highly selective, efficient and, most importantly, resulted in high yields, cell purity and viability comparable with MACS® technology. Additionally scale up is possible and could be easily transferred to another chromatographic matrix with the appropriate structure.

Crystallization is often a major bottleneck to macromolecular structure determination. This is particularly true for membrane proteins, which have hydrophobic surfaces that cannot readily form crystal contacts. Of the roughly 109,000 protein structures in the PDB, only about 539 represent unique membrane proteins, despite immense interest in membrane proteins from both a biological and therapeutic standpoint. Membrane protein crystallization has been facilitated by the development of new detergents, lipidic cubic phase methods, soluble protein chimeras, and non-covalent protein complexes. The design process of protein fusion constructs and non-covalent antibody fragments specific for each target membrane protein, however, is costly and time-consuming. An improved, more general method of membrane protein co-crystallization is needed. This dissertation details the development of two approaches for cost-effective non-covalent crystallization chaperones: (1) Engineered hypercrystallizable Fab antibody fragment with high affinity for EYMPME (EE epitope), which form complexes with EE-tagged soluble and membrane proteins. (2) Engineered monomeric streptavidin (mSA2) for complexation with biotinylated membrane proteins. Both methods are generalizable through insertion of a short epitope into a surface-exposed loop of a membrane protein by site directed mutagenesis. Crystallization trials of representative chaperone-membrane protein complexes and possible difficulties with the approach are discussed.

Orientadores: Carlos Francisco Sampaio Bonafé, Claudio Chrysostomo Werneck / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Biologia / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-19T01:47:53Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Norberto_DouglasRicardo_D.pdf: 1634322 bytes, checksum: 288f08df151602db46da98bf9d58476f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011 / Resumo: Ureia desnatura proteínas em diferentes concentrações, dependendo das condições experimentais e da proteína. A proteína monomérica soro albumina bovina (BSA) foi o principal modelo de investigação na presença de concentrações subdesnaturantes de ureia com base no modelo de equilíbrio de dois estados. A desnaturação induzida por alta pressão foi intensificada em concentrações de ureia ( [U] ) entre 3,5 M e 8,0 M, com variação de energia livre à pressão atmosférica (?Gº[U]) de +5,0 a -2,5 kJ/mol de BSA, e variação do volume de desnaturação (?V) de -30 a -36 mL/mol de BSA. Os parâmetros m apresentaram caráter bifásico, com valores de m1 e m2 de 0,92 e 2,35 kJ.mol-1.M-1, respectivamente. A partir de gráficos da variação de com relação à foram obtidos valores de , o coeficiente estequiométrico aparente do agente desnaturante, de 1,68 e 6,67 mol de ureia/mol de BSA, respectivamente v1 e v2, correspondentes à m1 e m2. Estes resultados foram comparados com os de outras proteínas monoméricas da literatura e com um conjunto de dados da SNase ?+PHS I92A e estequiometrias sistematicamente baixas foram observadas. No entanto, um valor de 140 mols de ureia/mol de BSA pode ser alcançado a partir de abordagem que considera a existência de uma população heterogênea com respeito a energia livre de desnaturação e aspectos moleculares da interação proteína-solvente puderam ser melhor interpretados / Abstract: Urea denatures proteins at different concentrations, depending on the experimental conditions and the protein. We investigated the pressure-induced denaturation of bovine serum albumin (BSA) as a model in the presence of subdenaturing concentrations of urea based on a two-state equilibrium model. Pressure-induced denaturation was enhanced at urea concentrations ([U]) of 3.5 M to 8.0 M, with the free energy of denaturation at atmospheric pressure (?Gº[U]) ranging from +5.0 to -2.5 kJ/mol of BSA while the volume change ranged from -30 to -36 mL/mol of BSA. The m values appeared to be biphasic, with m1 and m2 of 0.92 and 2.35 kJ.mol-1.M-1, respectively. Plots of ?Gº[U] versu ln[U] yielded values of v , the apparent stoichiometric coefficient, of 1.68 and 6.67 mol of urea/mol of BSA respectively for m1 and m2. These results were compared with the m and values of other monomeric proteins reported from the literature and of SNase ?+PHS I92A and the very low values of were systematically observed. However, a value of 140 moles of urea/mole of BSA could be reached by considering the existence of a heterogeneous molecular population with respect to the free energy of denaturation and the molecular binding aspects could be better interpreted / Doutorado / Bioquimica / Doutor em Biologia Funcional e Molecular

Upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) is the world's most prominent fiber crop. Cotton transformation is labor intensive and time consuming, taking 12 to 18 months for rooted T0 plants. One rate limiting step is the necessary production of somatic embryos. In other recalcitrant species, ectopic expression of three genes were shown to promote somatic embryogenesis: WUSCHEL (WUS), SHOOT MERISTEMLESS (STM), and BABY BOOM (BBM). WUS is responsible for maintaining stem-cell fate in shoot and floral meristems. STM is needed to establish and maintain shoot meristems. STM and WUS have similar functions but work in different pathways; overexpression of both together converts somatic cells to meristematic and embryogenic fate. BBM encodes an AP2/ERF transcription factor that is expressed during embryogenesis and ectopic expression of BBM reprograms vegetative tissues to embryonic growth. In prior studies, these genes were constitutively expressed, and cultures did not progress beyond embryogenesis because the embryogenic signal was not turned off. In our study, we set out to use these genes to increase the efficiency of cotton transformation and decrease the time it takes to regenerate a plant. A disarmed cotton leaf crumple virus (dCLCrV) vector delivers WUS, STM, or BBM into cotton tissue cultures through Agrobacterium tumefaciens infection. We propose that virus delivery of embryo-inducing genes is a better approach for transformation because A) inserts more than 800 nucleotides are unstable, and will spontaneously inactivate, B) virus DNA can migrate through plasmodesmata to cells around the infected cell, creating a gradient of embryonic potential, C) the virus DNA does not pass through the germ line and the seed will not contain virus. We propose this method of inducing embryogenesis will facilitate the stable transformation of cotton and will be beneficial to the cotton industry. Ectopic expression of AtBBM, AtSTM, and AtWUS GrWUS:meGFP from a constitutive CaMV 35S promoter produced plants with phenotypes similar to those described in previous studies overexpressing AtBBM, indicating that the AtBBM gene was functional. The cotton cotyledon infiltration of the pART27 constructs showed transformed cells in Coker 312 by GFP localization in the nucleus. Although GFP was detected, no visible embryos appeared from the cotyledon. Cotyledons infiltrated with Agrobacterium harboring overexpression vectors withered and aborted after ~2 weeks. The virus-based vector in tissue culture failed to increase transformation efficiency, resulting in no embryos. The combination of hormone concentration showed no contribution to increasing the transformation efficiency.

Myosin II and actin are two major components of the ingressing cortex during cytokinesis. However, their structural dynamics and functions during cytokinesis are still poorly understood. To study the role of myosin II in cortical actin turnover, dividing normal rat kidney (NRK) cells were treated with blebbistatin, a potent inhibitor of the non-muscle myosin II ATPase. Blebbistatin caused a strong inhibition of actin filament turnover and cytokinesis. Local release of blebbistatin at the equator caused inhibition of cytokinesis, while treatment in the polar region also caused a high frequency of abnormal cytokinesis, suggesting that myosin II may play a global role. These observations indicate that myosin II ATPase is essential for actin turnover and remodeling during cytokinesis. To further study the mechanism of myosin II and actin recruitment to the cytokinetic furrow, equatorial cortex were observed with total internal reflection fluorescence microscope (TIRF-M) coupled with spatial temporal image correlation spectroscopy (STICS) and a new approach termed temporal differential microscopy (TDM). The results indicated at least partially independent mechanisms for the early equatorial recruitment of myosin II and actin filaments. Cortical myosin II showed no detectable directional flow toward the equator. In addition to de novo equatorial assembly, localized inhibition of disassembly appeared to contribute to the formation of the equatorial myosin II band. In contrast, actin filaments underwent a striking, myosin II dependent flux toward the equator. However, myosin II was not required for equatorial actin concentration, suggesting that there was a flux-independent, de novo mechanism. The study was then extended to retraction fibers found typically on mitotic adherent cells, to address the hypothesis that they may facilitate post-mitotic spreading. Cells with retraction fibers showed increased spreading speed in post-mitotic spreading compared to cells without retraction fibers. In addition, micromanipulation study suggested that retraction fibers may guide the direction of post-mitotic spreading. Focal adhesion proteins were present at the tips of retraction fibers, and may act as small nucleators for focal adhesions reassembly that help cell quickly respread and regrow focal adhesions. These findings may suggest a general mechanism utilized by adherent cells to facilitate post-mitotic spreading and reoccupy their previous territory.

No description available.

Abstract The aim of this PhD-study was to better understand the structure-function relationship of triosephosphate isomerase (TIM) and to use this expertise to change its substrate specificity. TIM is an important enzyme of the glycolytic pathway which catalyzes the interconversion of D-glyceraldehyde phosphate (D-GAP) and dihydroxyacetone phosphate (DHAP). Two main subjects are discussed: the engineering of monomeric TIM to create new substrate specificity and the structure-function relationship studies of the catalytically important mobile loop6. The starting point for the protein engineering project was the monomeric ml8bTIM, with an extended binding pocket between loop7 and loop8. Rational protein engineering efforts have resulted in a new variant called A-TIM that can competently bind wild type transition state analogues. A-TIM was also able to bind citrate, a compound that the wild type TIM does not bind. This A-TIM citrate complex structure is a good starting point for future protein engineering efforts. Based on the assumption that it would be beneficial for the monomeric forms of TIM to have loop6 closed permanently to increase the population of competent active sites, two point mutation variants, A178L and P168A were generated and characterized. The A178L-mutation was made to favor the closed conformation of loop6 through steric clashes in the open conformation. The P168A variant was made to stabilize the closed conformation of loop6 by removing strain. The A178L mutation induced some features of the closed conformation, but did not result in a closed conformation in the absence of ligands. Our structural studies also show that the P168A mutation does not favor the closed conformation either. However, the structures of the unliganded and liganded P168A variant, together with other known TIM structures show that the substrate binding first induces closure of loop7. This conformational switch subsequently forces loop6 to adopt its closed conformation. The protein engineering project was successful, but the efforts to find variants with a permanently closed loop6 did not fully succeed. In the context of this thesis a monomeric variant of TIM, with new binding properties, was created. Nevertheless, A-TIM still competently binds the inhibitors and transition state analogues of wild type TIM. Also, when combined, results discussed in the context of this thesis indicate that in wild type TIM the closure of loop7 after ligand binding is the initial step in the series of conformational changes that lead to the formation of the competent active site. / Tiivistelmä Tämän väitöskirjatyön tarkoituksena oli oppia paremmin ymmärtämään trioosifosfaatti-isomeraasin (TIM) toimintamekanismeja sen rakenteen perusteella ja käyttää tätä tietämystä samaisen proteiinin muokkaamiseen uusiin tarkoituksiin. TIM on keskeinen entsyymi solun energian tuotannossa ja sen toiminta on välttämätöntä kaikille eliöille. Tämän vuoksi on tärkeää oppia ymmärtämään miten se saavuttaa tehokkaan reaktionopeutensa ja miksi se katalysoi vain D-glyseraldehydi-3-fosfaattia (D-GAP) ja dihydroksiasetonifosfaattia (DHAP). TIM:n toiminta mekanismien ymmärtämiseksi sen aminohapposekvenssiä muokattiin kahdesta kohtaa (P168A ja A178L) ja seuraukset todettiin mittaamalla tuotettujen proteiinien stabiilisuutta optisesti eri lämpötiloissa ja selvittämällä niiden kolmiulotteinen rakenne käyttäen röntgensädekristallografiaa. Mutaatioita tehtiin dimeeriseen villityypin TIM:in (wtTIM) ja jo aikaisemmin muokattuun monomeeriseen TIM:in (ml1TIM). Näiden mutaatioiden tarkoituksena oli suosia entsyymin aktiivista konformaatiota, jossa reaktion kannalta välttämätön vapaasti liikkuva peptidisilmukka numero 6 on suljetussa konformaatiossa. Monomeerisissä TIM:ssa peptidisilmukka numero 6:n ei ole välttämätöntä aueta. Tulokset mutaatiokokeista olivat osittain lupaavia. P168A-mutaatio lisäsi D-GAP:in sitoutumista, mutta rikkoi tärkeän mekanismin suljetussa, ligandia sitovassa, konformaatiossa. A178L-mutaatio aiheutti muutoksia avoimeen konformaatioon ja teki siitä suljettua konformaatiota muistuttavan jopa ilman ligandia, mutta samalla koko proteiini muuttui epävakaammaksi. Näistä kahdesta mutaatiosta A178L voisi olla hyödyllinen muokattujen TIM-versioiden ominaisuuksien parantamiseksi. Lisäksi yhdessä jo aikaisemmin julkaistujen yksityiskohtien kanssa nämä tulokset tekevät mahdolliseksi esittää tarkennusta siihen miten TIM toimii kun ligandi saapuu sen lähettyville. Tämän väitöskirjatyön yksi tavoite oli myös muokata edelleen monomeeristä TIM versiota (ml8bTIM), joka on suunniteltu siten, että se voi mahdollisesti sitoa uudenlaisia ligandeja. Tämä projekti vaati onnistuakseen 20 eri versiota ml8bTIM:n sekvenssistä ja noin 30 rakennetta. Uusia ligandeja sitova muoto (A-TIM) sitoi onnistuneesti sitraattia ja villityypin TIM:n inhibiittoreita. Erityisen lupaavaa oli, että A-TIM sitoi myös bromohydroksiasetonifosfaattia (BHAP), joka sitoutuu ainoastaan toimivaan aktiiviseen kohtaan. Nämä tulokset osoittavat, että A-TIM kykenee tarvittaessa katalysoimaan isomerisaatio reaktion uudenlaisille molekyyleille. Esimerkiksi katalysoimaan isomerisointireaktiota sokerianalogien tuotannossa.